Two Fashion Alums are Finalists for Philadelphia Magazine Design Contest

Philadelphia Magazine is searching for the next
great Philadelphia fashion designer. And one of them could be a Moore graduate.

Fashion Design alumnae Victoria Wright ’12 (right) and
Megan Swansen ’08 were two of eight designers chosen from countless portfolios
and resumes to create one original, ready-to-wear garment to grace the pages of
the September issue of the magazine.

The public voted online for their favorite look and the winning look and prize will be announced on October 6, 2013.

Wright submitted sketches for a dress, a top and a
coat. The magazine asked Wright to design the coat, a 1960s “Brigitte Bardot”-inspired
wool herringbone swing coat with quilted calfskin leather sleeves. For Swansen,
the magazine chose a long paneled
silk dress with g­athers, cutouts and a recycled-leather belt.

Wright, a freelance fashion designer, said she learned
about the contest through a stylist she worked with, and decided to apply.

“I’m pretty excited to be chosen, it’s a big deal,”
she said. “It’s kind of weird and surreal that I just graduated a year ago and
I have a look in the magazine. It’s the highlight of my design career thus far.”

Swansen, a stylist for Anthropologie’s web studio, found
out about the contest through a friend. She, too, was excited to see her look
in the magazine.

“It was really cool, especially since they gave
each of us a full page,” she said. “It was fun to see everything styled from
bigger named designers and photographers. I was very pleased with the way it
came out.”

Wright and Swansen knew of each other, but were
unaware they had both entered the contest until they saw the magazine. “I think
it’s cool,” Swansen said. “It’s good to see a couple of Moore girls in there.”

Both girls said they wanted to be
fashion designers from a young age. Wright attended the Summer Art & Design
Institute (SADI) at Moore as a teenager, which led her to enroll in the BFA
program.

"I liked the teachers and the atmosphere,” she said. “But the real draw was the
smaller class sizes and I thought there was a lot of one on one attention with
your mentors and teachers. I really liked the whole learning environment. It’s
a great school.”

Swansen, a Philadelphia native,
said she always knew she wanted to go to Moore and it was the only college she
applied to.

“I liked the idea of the small school and the all women’s college was very
appealing because I think - especially in a tight knit group - women supporting
each other in the arts is a very positive thing.”